Part 71 (1/2)
”On the contrary,” replied I, looking at the demure face of the negro; ”I suspect it was _Moons.h.i.+ne_.”
The Fairy's Wand
A TALE OF WINDSOR PARK IN THE DAYS OF THE MERRY MONARCH
In the time of Charles II., Windsor Park stood just where it stands now, and the castle of Windsor was very often the abode of royalty, as it is now; but in those merry, but licentious times, there was much more fun and feasting going on than perhaps there is at present. Rochester was master of the revels, and the Countesses of ---- but I will say nothing about the ladies, although some of the highest of our aristocracy are descended from them. There were great preparations in the castle, for King Charles had invited down the Mayor of London, and a bevy of aldermen; not so much with a view of doing honour to the magistrates of the great and ancient city, as with the hope to extract some amus.e.m.e.nt from their peculiarities.
The fact is, that the Mayor and aldermen of London had certified to the Earl of Rochester, that they had some complaint to make and some favour to request of his Majesty. Rochester, ever willing to procure amus.e.m.e.nt for his royal master, at the same time was equally careful not to allow him to be annoyed, and therefore had contrived to ferret out that the complaint against the lords of the court, was for their foo great familiarity with the citizens' wives, and that the favour to be demanded was, a curtailment of the dress, ornaments, and expensive habits of the city ladies.--He considered this a very favourable opportunity for procuring some mirth at the expense of the corporation.
With the consent of the king, he had intimated to the mayor and aldermen, that they would be received in the evening, and honoured with a seat at the royal banquet; and at the same time he had privately made known to the lady mayoress, what were the demands about to be made by her husband, desiring her to communicate the same, under a strict promise of secrecy, to the wives of all the aldermen; and also acquainting them that his Majesty would be glad to receive the ladies on the same evening, provided that they could come without the knowledge of their husbands, which might be done by their setting off for Windsor some short time after them. It was the intention of the king, that when the mayor and corporation should present the address, they should be met face to face by their wives, and thus issue be joined.
But mortals were not the only parties who revelled in the beauties of the park of Windsor.
On the evening that this comedy was about to be enacted, there reclined under the celebrated oak, known as Herne's Oak, in a small clear s.p.a.ce between some ferns, two of those beings called fairies who had for time immemorial taken up their quarters in that delightful retreat. Whether they were man and wife is not established, but certainly they were male and female; and as they appeared to be on the very best understanding, it is to be presumed that they were not married.
”Elda, there will be a scene to-night at the castle,” said the male to the female sprite, as he tickled her nose with a blade of gra.s.s.
”Yes, Maya; how foolish those mortals are!”
”I have a mind to create even more mischief,” rejoined Maya, ”but if I did, you would want to see it.”
”Well, and suppose I did, dearest?”
”I do not like that you should be in company with those women, Elda; those d.u.c.h.esses and countesses.”
”Bless me, Maya!--what are you afraid of? my virtue?”
”Oh no, dearest! I did not mean that----”
”Then I'll tell you what you did mean, you jealous-pated fool: you meant, that you did not like that I should be in the company of the Earl of Rochester and the King. You ought to have more respect for yourself, and more respect for me, than to be jealous of those mortals.”
”Nay, Elda!”
”Yes, yes, and your reason for wanting to go alone, is to hang over that nasty d.u.c.h.ess of Portsmouth.”
”Upon my honour!--”
”Your honour, sir!--you have none--there, sir, you may go.”
”Oh, very well, madam; just as you please.”
Certainly there was something very mortal in this quarrel, and may remind the reader of similar scenes in domestic life.
It ended by Maya walking sulkily away in the direction of the castle, and of Elda following him at a distance, determined to watch his motions.
But if these two lovers had quarrelled, there were two other beings who were indulging in a moonlight walk on the terrace, linked arm-in-arm so affectionately, so fondly, keeping exact pace for pace, and occasionally embracing each other, every one would have thought that nothing in the world could ever have disunited them. They were two young ladies of the court, aged about seventeen, just clear of their governess and bread-and-b.u.t.ter, and newly-appointed maids of honour: they were both beautiful, and had contracted a friends.h.i.+p, as all girls do at that age, when love has with them no precise definition. They had sworn eternal affection after an acquaintance of eight-and-forty hours--the sun and the moon, and all the stars in the firmament--heaven above, the earth below, and everything below that again, had all been summoned to register their vows; and at the time that they were then walking they would have considered it positive heresy to hint at the idea of a disagreement even in thought; but, as I have before observed, they were only seventeen years old.
Maya, who had bent his steps towards the castle, perceived these two young damsels parading up and down, and although he had not the full power of Oberon, yet he was still a highly-endowed fairy. Among other powers vested in him, he had a wand, which when it touched any fairy would change that fairy into mortal size and shape, and if it touched any mortal would produce the contrary effect, giving them for the time the size and appearance of fairies, imps, tritons, naiads, or some of those intermediate creatures, which most accorded with their mortal propensities and dispositions.
This very wand made him much feared by the other fairies, as they were often punished by him in this way, and it was only Oberon, the king, who had the power of reversing the charm; and it is said, that this very wand was one cause why his fair Elda, generally speaking, behaved so well, as he often threatened to turn her into a Dutch milkmaid; which, as she was of a very beautiful figure, would have been a very severe punishment.